Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia

34: Just Add Water

A car drove past a sign labeled "Arcadia". It was dark and he gripped the steering wheel. "How about 'welcome to the highway'?" he asked. "Now, that's a sign I'd rather see. Looking forward to the weekend with you, champ." He looked through the rearview mirror at his son, sitting in the backseat, playing a video game. "Stocked the fridge with those frozen mini pizzas you like. Can't wait to get home."

"You're lost," he said, not looking up from his game.

"Lost? No, not lost."

"Call mom. She never gets lost."

He looked at his son. "No, we don't need mom's help." He looked back at the road. "Son of a—"

He steered the car before he hit a person on the highway. He heard his tire pop and stopped the car. He got out and heard his son making a comment. "Nice driving, dad."

He looked at his tire and sighed. "Flat." He looked to see what popped it. "Jeez, look at this thing! No wonder I popped a tire." Picked up a stone arm. "I've never seen anything like it. I wonder if it's worth anything. He opened his truck and put the arm inside. "It'll just take me a second to fix this tire, champ," he said. He started fixing the tire and the boy heard something nearby. He looked out the window and saw yellow pieces of goo on the road. He rolled up the window and scooted back to where he was. "Who needs a mechanic when you got your old man?" the dad asked. He appeared at his window, causing the boy to jump. "Bet your mom can't do that!"

"Dad!"

"Sorry, champ. Did I scare you? Let's get a move on."

He went back to the trunk and closed it. "Well, it looks like our luck is finally turning," he said. His son looked at him and saw a dark figure standing behind him. His dad walked back to the driver's seat and started the car. He continued driving down the road. "Someone is awfully quiet back there," he said. "Buckle up, Junior."

The gooey creature watched them drive away.

***

"Here it is!" Coach Lawrence said, holding a sack of flour. "For the next 24 hours, this your baby!"

He put the sack of flour on Mary's desk and she gasped excitedly. "Are we going to learn how babies are made?"

"At the flour mill, apparently," he said, grabbing another sack of flour. "Your assignment is simple. You will name it. You will care for it. You will never let it out of your sight. Look who you're seated beside. That's your partner. If it comes back in one piece, you pass."

He set a sack of flour on Jim's desk. He looked at the person sitting beside him and fist-bumped Claire. "If it doesn't," Coach Lawrence continued, setting a sack on Toby's desk. "You fail."

"Piece of cake," Toby smiled.

"It's not cake! Don't eat it, Domzalski! So, you cheaters don't turn in a fake, personalize your babies to begin the joy of parenting."

Toby picked up a red pen and started drawing on his sack of flour. "I'm kind of worried," Darci said. "Toby, I really need to pass this class or else I lose my mascot position."

"Don't worry," Toby said. "We're Team Darby! We got this! I'm great with kids."

Steve walked in with a nervous look on his face and pushed past Toby, causing him to stick the pen into the sack. Darci sighed. "I'm totally going to fail."

Steve sat down in his seat. "Sorry I'm uh, late, Coach," he said. "Things got a little weird."

"It's about to get weirder," he said. "You're raising a baby with Pepperjack."